Chelsea secured a confidence boosting 4-0 victory at home to local rival Crystal Palace on Wednesday night thanks to goals from Guro Reiten, Caterina Macario and Mia Fishel. Chelsea came into this match looking to continue their march towards a sixth consecutive league title and put Sunday’s result in Barcelona behind them.
Their opponents Crystal Palace travelled to Kingsmeadow knowing that they now realistically need to win three of their last four matches to stand any chance of playing Barclays Women’s Super League football next season.
Chelsea made seven changes from the side that lost in the UEFA Champions League semi final with key players, Keira Walsh, Erin Cuthbert and Lucy Bronze rested. For Chelsea the big team news came in the form of Naomi Girma and Guro Reiten, who started for the first time since returning from their respective injuries. Chelsea remained without star players Sam Kerr and Lauren James both of whom have an unclear timeline on their return to the pitch.
Crystal Palace had not played a match since 30th March when they lost 4-0 to Arsenal. The Eagles made only one change from that side for this one with Aniek Nouwen dropping out of the squad due to being on loan from Chelsea with Lexi Potter excluded from the quad for the same reason. In Nouwen’s place came Mille Geji who slotted into the Palace midfield.
The Line ups:
CHE: Hampton, Lawrence, Bright, Girma, Charles, Jean-François, Nüsken, Reiten, Baltimore, Macario, Beever-Jones
CRY: Yañez, Woodham, Swaby, Nolan, Sharpe, Arthur, Cato, Gejl, Larisey, Weerden, Stengel
The Action:
Chelsea had a couple of early sights at goal with the returning Reiten at the heart of much of their creativity. Within the first 10 minutes the visitors, while riding their luck kept proceedings goalless. The plan for Palace was clearly to catch Chelsea on the counter with pacey forwards like Ashleigh Weerden and Clarissa Larisey poised to break.
Just before the 20th minute Chelsea had a near post header from Sjoeke Nüsken whistle just past the post. It proved a warning shot, shortly after, Reiten looked to direct a cross into the box but her effort was handled by the unfortunate Molly Sharpe. The Chelsea winger stepped up and fired home for 1-0 to the home side, even if Shae Yañez will feel like she could have done more after getting a palm on the ball.
Only minutes later Chelsea had doubled their lead, impressive running along the touch line from Sandy Baltimore saw her cut inside and find Caterina Macario in the box who, with steely resolve, steadied herself before finding the bottom corner with unerring accuracy. Chelsea probed for another before half time and almost had it after a wonderful lofted through ball from Macario played Reiten through on goal and but for a magnificent sliding challenge from Hayley Nolan, Chelsea would have made it 3-0 before half time.
If Crystal Palace had hoped for more luck in the second half, they were left disappointed. After Nüsken ran through on goal with only minutes since the restart, Allyson Swaby, who was tracking back, pushed Nüsken to the ground. As the last player in defence the centre back was given her marching orders leaving her side with 10 players. From the resulting free kick a deflection helped Macario’s strike to the back of the net giving Yañez no chance at all and leaving Palace’s hopes of salvaging anything, little to none.
Chelsea continued to trouble the visitors in search of a fourth with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s close range effort saved from point blank range within seconds of her introduction. Not long after Mia Fishel’s header rattled the post from a corner but she would not have to wait long to get on the scoresheet. Only minutes later the American tapped in from close range to make it 4-0.
Chelsea now only need four points to secure the league title, and will welcome Barcelona to Stamford Bridge on Sunday hoping to overturn that three goal deficit. On the other hand, Crystal Palace host West Ham on Sunday now knowing that anything less than victory in their last three matches will likely see their fate sealed and relegation confirmed.
Chelsea Player Ratings:
Hannah Hampton – 6/10 – Hampton had nothing to do this match, so was extremely hard to rate out of 10.
Ashley Lawrence – 7/10 – A solid if unspectacular outing from Lawrence.
Naomi Girma – 6/10 – Found herself in advanced areas at times while Jean-François covered her to positive effect for Chelsea. Did not have a huge amount of defending to do on the day. Came off at half time for Bronze.
Millie Bright – 8/10 – Confident on the ball Bright controlled proceedings from the back, a few agricultural challenges warned most off the prospect of attacking.
Niamh Charles – 8/10 – A performance that began with industry and determination down the line, Charles played like a player that sensed her shot at a place in the starting eleven against Barcelona.
Sjoeke Nüsken – 9/10 – Helped Chelsea dictate the flow of the match from the middle of midfield, especially in the early moments she was not afraid to get her foot on the ball.
Oriane Jean-François – 7/10 – Had some energetic runs from deep which demonstrated variety in the Chelsea attack. Did not put a foot wrong.
Guro Reiten – 8/10 – Provided the spark that Chelsea have been missing, scored her penalty impressively and the flood gates opened from there.
Sandy Baltimore – 8/10 – Baltimore has been phenomenal this season and tonight did not break with that tradition, her bright running led Chelsea to their second goal as the French woman assisted Macario to score.
Catarina Macario – 9/10 – Took her goal with ease steadying herself to fire past Yañez and scored a second to end the match as a contest. Her five key passes were more than any other on the night. Surely Macario will start against Barcelona on Sunday.
Aggie Beever-Jones – 5/10 – Struggled to impact the game up front for her team was taken off at half time likely in order to be rested for Sunday.
SUBS:
Lucy Bronze – (46′ for Naomi Girma)
Mia Fishel – (46′ for Aggie Beever-Jones)
Maika Hamano – (56′ for Sandy Baltimore)
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd – (56′ for Guro Reiten)
Maelys Mpomé – (67′ for Niamh Charles)
Crystal Palace Player Ratings
Shae Yañez – 5/10 – Should have done better with Reiten’s penalty and was unspectacular otherwise.
Lily Woodham – 6/10 – Woodham so often a consistent performer for Palace almost put through her own net when defending a shot from Reiten gone awry. Did okay on a difficult night for her team.
Allyson Swaby – 5/10 – Defended the challenge posed by Aggie Beever-Jones well for the most part. Was sent off early in the second half, she perhaps should allowed Nüsken through on goal rather than receive a red.
Hayley Nolan – 7/10 – Had a number of assured moments in defence for Palace. Made a phenomenal sliding challenge on Reiten when a goal looked the only possible outcome with the Norwegian bearing down on goal. Put her body on the line to halt a goal bound effort from point blank range from Naomi Girma only moments later.
Molly Sharpe– 6/10 – Won an early duel with Reiten which would have instilled confidence. Made some important tackles in the opening 10 minutes. Was extremely unlucky to give away a penalty as the ball hit her arm from close range.
Mille Geji – 6/10 – Had a tough time getting her foot on the ball and was unlucky to be hooked after the red card.
Chloe Artur – 6/10 – Struggled to influence the match at all from midfield but she was not along in that.
My Cato – 6/10 – Struggled to get involved in the match, did not deserve to receive a booking for her challenge on Beever-Jones.
Ashleigh Weerden – 6/10 – Rarely saw the ball but when she did she recycled possession as best she could.
Clarissa Larisey– 6/10 – Showed invention in the Palace attack, was on the receiving end of a number of Millie Bright challenges where nothing was held back.
Katie Stengel – 6/10 – Picked up a knock late in the first half, this one was always going to be an uphill battle but she showed some decent touches when given the opportunity.
SUBS:
Josie Green – (50′ for Mille Geji)
Ria Öling – (60′ for Ashleigh Weerden)
Elise Hughes – (60′ for Clarissa Larisey)
Abbie Larkin – (60′ for Katie Stengel)
My Cato – (85′ for Annabel Blanchard)
The Halfway Line Player of the Match: Sjoeke Nüsken
While Caterina Macario’s two goals ran her close Sjoeke Nüsken was exceptionally for the blues tonight. The German was confident on the ball throughout and played like a player with a point to prove. She won more duels, made more tackles and more interceptions than any other player on the pitch ensuring Chelsea dominated their opposition.
